Retainers for the vibration-free holding of components, in particular of components that, by their nature, transfer or generate noise via airborne sound or solid-borne sound, must meet a variety of requirements. The transfer of solid-borne sound is also accompanied by acoustic amplification effects which, for example, excite a large object or a housing to vibrate, thus generating undesired noise.
On the one hand these retaining devices must not transfer noise or must minimize that noise; on the other hand the component needs to be securely and permanently retained or held. The transfer of vibration and solid-borne sound occurs more intensely whenever a metallic connection exists between the sound generator and a housing.
Solutions for secure holding are known that minimize noise production by way of a complex damper and a rubber mount for the component. This requires, however, a large amount of space.
The known solutions are unusable, however, if that space is not available and if, for example, an electric motor must be held in a small space in secure and vibration-free fashion and in a manner that damps solid-borne sound.
In the field of surgical microscopes, a plurality of miniature electric motors are built into the microscope stand or the microscope in order to control, inter alia, the X-Y focusing drive system. This focusing drive system is installed in the surgical microscope, however, at a point that is located close to the viewing eyepiece for the surgeon. This closeness means that even the slightest vibrations and noise are perceived by the surgeon. In surgical procedures lasting several hours, this irritation can result in a loss of concentration on the part of the surgeon.